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Can You Tell The Truth From Lies? (1 John 4:1 - 6)

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There is a game call "Truth and Lies' where a person shares 3 things of himself but one of the 3 is a lie and the others is guess which is the lie. It's an icebreaker game to get to know one another.

1 John 4:1 - 6 tells of lies and it is not a game and it affects our salvation in Christ. It tells of the end time where the anti-Christ is active is using lies to trap believers. 

Today it is more real than ever. Truth has been made to look bad. Lies has been made to look like normal or even beautiful. In church it is not surprising that prosperity is preached as Gospel Truth, e.g., if you are a real Christian you should prosper materially. In the world, sex outside marriage is a norm and if you are against it, you are 'out of touch'. The amount of information online is not just endless but also you cannot tell the truth from the lies. Opinion is made to be facts. Truth is made to look 'out of date ' or judgmental.  After a while no one bothers about truth.

As believers we must stand strong. "You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world." The anti-Christ is powerful but we are far more powerful. We can know the truth and can overcome the deceptions of the anti-Christ.  How? With the Holy Spirit that is within us. Here is where we often choose what we like to hear, i.e., a selective truth.  Many believers believe if you have the Holy Spirit you automatically have the miraculous power to overcome.  While we have testimony of instant miraculous power, they are exceptions. 

The Bible makes it clear that being filled with the Holy Spirit is God's grace and also a relationship which needs effort on our part to grow the relationship.  We don't just sit around and wait for power. Our Lord Jesus himself as a young person made effort to study the Torah. And then in the busyness of ministry He disciplined himself in order to be with the Father in the early morning. The disciples were people of worship, prayer, word and fellowship. Paul, probably the greatest disciple was a man filled with the Spirit and he was one who studied the word of God diligently.

If we are to live in the Spirit's power, we must understand we already have the Holy Spirit. The next step is grow in your relationship with Him through effort. And to know the truth from the lies, we need to read and study the Bible diligently and there you will be sure to find the Holy Spirit's power in teaching you.

Reflection: The promise of the Holy Spirit is without doubt. It is a fulfilled promise. The question  is what effort you need to put in in order to grow in your relationship with the Holy Spirit and overcome deception?


Prayer 

Holy Spirit, it is so amazing that you live in me and give me the power to overcome deception.  It is clear what I need to do. I commit myself to walking with you, to prayer; worship; to your Word, both to know and to live by it; to serve; to witness; and grow in your fruit.  In Christ's Name. Amen

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